Hit the Road
by dragnclaw
Summary: The last thing Sakura expected she'd have to do that day was accept a ride from a strange, cranky man in an oversized semi, but sometimes fate leads you down the road you'd least expect.
1. Chapter One

**Title: **Hit the Road

**Rating: **M, I suppose.

**Summary: **The last thing Sakura expected she'd have to do that day was accept a ride from a strange, cranky man in an oversized semi, but sometimes fate leads you down the road you'd least expect.

**Pairing(s): **KakuzuSakura

**Other Notes: **This is a Modern!AU!fic, although the characters retain their signature abilities to make it more interesting. Hopefully that doesn't scare you off.

**Disclaimer: **I obviously don't own Naruto, now do I?

**Chapter One**

_Sakura's Thoughts_

* * *

This was turning out to be an absolutely, positively wonderful, gorgeous day. Except for, you know, the whole bit where her son of a bitch bastard 'friend' left her to _die_ in the middle of _nowhere _that just _happened_ to be a scorching desert.

And now, _now_ she was stuck with the most anal-retentive man in the history of ever, who just happened to drive through the middle of nowhere, notice her and grudgingly offer her a ride to civilization, just because he happened to be going the same way.

So, yes, she kind of owed him.

But whatever; he was still the most obstinate, irritating and blunt person to grace the planet with his presence, which is probably why he was a trucker, of all occupations. This was learned within the first five minutes of encountering him, and no, she wasn't overreacting or exaggerating one bit.

Nope, not at all.

* * *

_I must have been a horrible person in a past life to get stuck in this sort of situation. But, at least it'll all be better when I see Naruto again, and we get to laugh over all of this in the end. And if I ever,_ ever_ see Kabuto again, I'll beat his ass six feet under ground. The prick! How dare he leave me as though I was expendable? Hmm, so much for being a 'friend'. _

_As soon as I get to Naruto's house, I'll have to phone my credit card company and all that stuff to let them know that my card has been stolen, and then I'll have to call the DMV to get a new driver's license, and then I am going to be arrested for assault and maybe homicide after hunting down that bastard and beating the shit out of him. He's caused me waaaaay too much grief. And next time I'm going somewhere with someone, I'm keeping my purse on my arm at ALL times._

_It's too much to ask for a normal summer vacation, is it? No, instead I get to sit in a truck next to a stuffy guy for about five days straight (or more!) and die of boredom because he obviously lacks communication skills. I'm going to go insane by the end of this, aren't I?_

Sakura laughed softly to herself, earning her a look from the man sitting next to her, whom happened to be occupied by driving-- but not so much so, since they were on a straight road that stretched ahead of them for what seemed eternity. Said man was a good foot taller than her, tan skinned, and had stitches _everywhere_, or so it seemed (most likely part of a kekkei genkai, she mused), and piercing green eyes and black sclera. He was wearing a tight black shirt, black cargo pants, black shoes, and a green bandanna around his neck.

Everything about him screamed dark and angry and "_I'mgoingtoeatyoualive_." At least it didn't scream "_I'mgoingtodumpyouinthemiddleofnowhere_," though.

Sakura just looked back at him and smiled sheepishly, not bothering to explain.

"So how did you manage to get yourself stranded out here?" he asked, tone implying that perhaps it had been her fault that she had been stranded in the first place.

"I was traveling with someone who I thought was a friend, and they ditched me," Sakura replied, a scowl set firmly on her face.

The man acknowledged her with a noncommittal grunt.

"Hey, what's your name?" Sakura asked, realizing that he had never introduced himself.

"Kakuzu," the man abruptly replied, glancing at her.

And with that, they spend the next few hours in silence.

* * *

"_What?_"

She did _not _just hear what she thought she did.

"We're going to have to sleep together. As you can see, we have no other options, since the seats don't recline," Kakuzu replied.

Apparently, she _did _hear what she thought she did.

"I could sleep on the floor." Sakura stated stubbornly.

"And then whine the next day about how dirty your clothes are?" Kakuzu sniped back.

"I _wouldn't_ whine," Sakura replied with a pout.

Giving up for the moment, Kakuzu climbed onto the surprisingly spacious little bed behind the seats, switched off the light, and laid down with a sigh. After a moment, he impatiently nudged Sakura in the side with a sock-clad foot.

She glared at him, and then made for the floor.

_Hah! I won. I won't have to share with Mr. Pompous Asshole. _

Just as she was about to lay down and curl up into a ball, she felt something akin to thread entwining itself around her feet, waist and arms. She tried pulling away from them, but to no avail. She tugged at the tentacle-threads again, applying a bit of her super-strength, but they still didn't give way and slowly started pulling her up, and she noticed that they originated from Kakuzu's body.

"Kakuzu! _What_ are you doing?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You are not going to sleep on the floor." Kakuzu stated.

Once she was lying next to him, the threads relinquished their hold.

Fuming inwardly, Sakura shifted a bit to get comfortable.

"If you grope me, I'm going to castrate you." Sakura announced, holding up her right hand and letting it glow brightly with medical chakra for emphasis.

"Hmph. I'd like to see you try, toots." Kakuzu mocked.

Just as Sakura was about to fall asleep, she felt a hand lightly squeeze her waist.

"Kakuzu!"

His only reply was an exaggerated snore.

* * *

**4.30.08 Author's Notes:**

Hello!

I just wanted to thank my beta, Ivyadrena, for being awesome (as usual), and for my buddies on LJ and elsewhere for encouraging me to write this. :D

(And I apologize for the fact that this chapter is ridiculously short. I've been under the influence of my allergies for the last week or so, and it's been a bit crazy.)

Oh, and if FF.n is being weird (again), and messing up stuff, please, let me know!


	2. Chapter Two

**Hit the Road**

**Chapter Two**

_Sakura's Thoughts_

* * *

Sakura was in an awkward situation.

Make that a _very _awkward situation.

She had awoken to find Kakuzu draped over her, head resting on her breasts and an arm wrapped possessively around her hip.

Sakura mentally cursed her luck and a few gods for extra measure.

_I knew I should have slept on the floor!_

She tried shifting to loosen Kakuzu's grip, but to no avail.

"Kakuzu?"

No response.

"Kakuzu? Could you please wake up and _get off of me_?"

_Still_ no response.

"Kakuzu! Wake up!"

At this, he just mumbled and nuzzled closer to Sakura, who had developed a lovely blush at that moment. Fed up with him, she pitched herself off the bed, Kakuzu falling to the small bit of floorspace between the bed and seats with her.

_Oh crap, I don't think I made the situation any better._

Now she was lying on the floor with Kakuzu sprawled on top of her, staring at her with his vivid green eyes.

"Now that I have your attention, DO YOU MIND GETTING OFF OF ME?" Sakura bellowed.

"Good morning to you, too," Kakuzu grumbled as he got up off of her and stretched, lifting his arms over his head, and curling his toes.

Meanwhile, Sakura's stomach made its demands known by growling loudly and breaking the silence.

Kakuzu gave Sakura a mocking look, and then reached over her to open, what on further inspection, was a mini-fridge located under the bed.

Sakura sat up and then scooted closer to the fridge, only to find several packets of dried bananas and other such things. Oh, joy.

"Is there anything _edible_ to eat in here?" Sakura grumbled as she started poking around in the small compartment.

"You can take or leave it," Kakuzu replied nonchalantly.

Sakura grumbled at his answer and proceeded to search the fridge.

_Are dried bananas all he eats? Wait a sec…_

She reached into the left bottom corner of the fridge, and, to her delight, pulled out a packet of pretzels.

_Sweet victory!_

As her mouth watered in anticipation, Sakura was just about to open the package and devour its contents when Kakuzu snatched it out of her hands and sat down on the bed.

"Hey, I was about to eat that!" Sakura exclaimed angrily.

"And now I'm going to," Kakuzu replied smugly, as he opened the bag. Sakura sat in front of him and glowered darkly.

_Give me the food. Give meeee the fooooooooood. Dooooooo iiiiiiiiittttt._

As Kakuzu started to eat, Sakura watched his every move intently, disgusted scowl still in place and continued her inner mantra.

A quarter of the way through the bag, Kakuzu gave up and handed her the bag of pretzels with a sigh. Sakura's countenance immediately brightened, and Kakuzu, disgusted with himself, left the sleeper and took his seat at the steering wheel.

"Thank you!" Sakura called after him.

_Sweet victory! I never thought I'd be so happy to see pretzels in my life!_

Finishing the bag with unparalleled speed, Sakura got up and dusted herself off, sticking the empty bag in her pants pocket. Exiting the sleeper, she sat down on her side of the truck, not feeling inclined to be near Kakuzu at the moment.

"Soo...how long will it take to get to Manhattan?" Sakura inquired curiously, turning to face Kakuzu. With Kabuto, it would have taken her about a week and a half, since they had planned on stopping at a few places of interest, monuments, and the like.

Kakuzu pulled out a map from a back pocket of his pants, and proceeded to unfold it. "We are currently near the Nevada/Utah border; it should take us about an hour to reach the border, and four to five days to reach Manhattan, if we're lucky," Kakuzu replied, tracing out a route on the map as he spoke.

"All right," Sakura acknowledged without argument, knowing that there was not much she could do about it. "Will we be stopping anywhere for reasons other than refueling or buying food?"

"No. The cargo I am transporting needs to be taken to Manhattan, which is the only reason I'm taking you with me," He replied curtly as he folded the map, and stuck it back in his pocket.

_Ouch. I feel loved._

"You don't do anything out of the goodness of your heart, do you?" Sakura asked in a lightly teasing tone, a smile on her face. Willing or not, she was grateful that Kakuzu hadn't drop-kicked her out of the truck after saving her life. He could have left her to fend for herself at the first establishment they had passed yesterday.

"_Hearts,_" Kakuzu corrected.

"'Hearts' what?" Sakura asked, slightly confused. "Do you mean to tell me you have _more_ than one?"

"I have four, in total," He stated, pulling out the truck keys out of one of the many pockets in his cargo pants, and stuck it in the ignition.

Sakura stared at him incredulously. "_What_?! You're practically a medical miracle!"

Kakuzu chuckled. "Having four hearts hardly makes me a saint."

"Uhm...could I take a look?" She hesitantly asked. "I'm a medic, and it would be truly amazing if I could see how your circulatory system works, not to mention how your liver handles all of that 'extra' blood...that also partly explains your tentacle-threads, doesn't it?" Sakura's face lit up, brain working furiously to determine how someone could function with four hearts.

"Only if I could take a look at _you_," Kakuzu shot back with a smirk as he started the truck.

"...What? But you're not a..._Oh!_ No!" Sakura exclaimed. She promptly blushed and crossed her legs, pointedly avoiding Kakuzu's gaze.

Kakuzu just laughed at her reaction, as he started the truck and pulled onto the road.

_Pervert! Awww. It's not faaaaaiiiiiir. It's just my luck. I find a living, breathing, medical miracle, and guess what? The man is evil! I mean, perverted. But he probably gets heckled about his looks and ability a lot, so I guess it's understandable that he doesn't really want any medic poking and prodding him. But still... four or five days sitting next to Mr. Medical Marvel over there, and I really have to wonder who will really end up molesting who overnight. _

Sakura smiled at her thought, although she continued to look out the window at the almost non-existent landscape.

_Dirt, dirt, dirt, sand, tumbleweed, more dirt, hills, rocks, rocks, rocks...ugh. Nevada is boring. No wonder they have so many casinos and clubs and secret army bases. There's nothing else to DO here. And supposedly Interstate 80 connects San Francisco California to New Jersey, so there's not much of a chance of getting lost. We're going to be on the same road for almost the whole length of this...this...what should I call 'this', anyway? It sure as hell isn't a vacation anymore._

"Hey, Kakuzu, what would you call 'this', as in the two of us traveling together? It's not an excursion, or a vacation, but other than being dreadfully boring, it's not completely unpleasant. At least there's air conditioning. And pretzels."

"And a handsome man driving an extravagant truck," he added with a smirk.

"Haha, whatever you say. But still, what'd you call 'this'?" Sakura prodded.

"Hell if I know. I have about as much a clue as you do. We're two strangers traveling the road of life?" He supplied with a shrug.

"At least we aren't _lost_ on the road of life." Sakura sighed, disappointed that she couldn't categorize their 'relationship'".

"So what next?"

"Lunch? I know of a good restaurant in Utah. It's on our way," Kakuzu offered.

"Sounds good to me. It's not like there are any other options," She shrugged in acceptance.

"Well,_ I _could always get lunch and let you starve," He murmured, turning his head slightly to glance at her.

Sakura looked at him, slightly alarmed. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

* * *

A few hours, and many miles later, they arrived at the 'nice' restaurant Kakuzu had mentioned.

Apparently, 'nice' in Kakuzu's opinion equaled 'run-down' in Sakura's. Although, at second glance, it didn't look that bad.

"This is what you call 'nice'?" Sakura asked Kakuzu as they walked towards the restaurant.

"It may not look it, but they serve good food," Kakuzu replied, looking slightly annoyed.

"I'll take your word for it, but if I die of food poisoning, it's your fault," she grumbled skeptically.

"What kind of pathetic medic dies of food poisoning?"

At this, Sakura promptly made a face at him and entered the establishment without further protest.

Once inside, Sakura turned to Kakuzu to ask him a question, when she was rudely interrupted.

"Fuck, man, when did _you_ start picking up hot bitches, and why the hell aren't there any on _my_ route?!"

* * *

**5.18.2008 Author's Note:**

Hello!

Sorry for the 'late' update. I had planned to write and post this chapter within a week of posting the first chapter, but, apparently, things rarely go as planned with me. I was plagued by my allergies, and even had difficulties breathing for a few days, which is why this was put off.

But I'm feeling better now, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D


End file.
